Builders of the Pacific Coast by Lloyd Kahn
Lloyd Kahn is currently working on a new book on tiny houses, and recently contacted me about possibly including a piece on my Tiny Free House. It won’t be long before I’ll need to move my pallet house project closer to home, and having it nearby will make it a lot easier to finish it up.
If you’re not familiar with Lloyd, let me introduce you. Lloyd Kahn has been building, living in, and writing about alternative handmade homes for decades. He lives and works in the tiny coastal town of Bolinas, California. His publishing company is called Shelter Publications, and is well known for publishing books and software designed to improve the quality of life.
His most recent book is Builders of the Pacific Coast. He sent me a copy last week and I’ve been pouring over the pages in a trance. The book is absolutely amazing. It’s filled with stories of homemade homes from San Francisco to British Columbia. Over a two-year period Lloyd made four separate trips up the coast meeting people and photographing their amazing homes. All that work is now captured in the pages of this 256-page book, packed with color photos.
In my humble opinion, Builders of the Pacific Coast is an incredible bargain at less than thirty bucks (check his website for current pricing). Below are some sample photos from the book.
![How tiny is too tiny? …An Excerpt from Tiny House Decisions [Book Giveaway Has Ended]](https://tinyhousedesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/SusanTeare1.jpg)
indeed. this is a fabulous book! very inspirational if you are a builder. and great just to inspire creativity of any sort.
when I first found it and bought a copy, I kept having to go back & buy more because I kept giving my copy to friends who I showed it to and who liked it as much as I did.
Lloyd’s blog is one of the handful that I follow regularly:
http://lloydkahn-ongoing.blogspot.com/
A very cool book, yes.
Here’s another great book from Lloyd’s Shelter Publishing: first English edition of “The Barefoot Architect” by Johan van Lengen. Anyone interested in off-grid building should check this out. I highly recommend it for the nuts and bolts of making DIY building systems (and things like greywater) actually work. Very easy to understand, loads of illustrations, a wealth of nitty gritty info.
Let’s not forget that this is Lloyd’s 3rd book. His 1973 book ‘Shelter’ is a timeless classic and has inspired thousands of people to build their own homes. His 2004 book ‘Home Work: Hand built Shelter’ is an instant classic as is his new book which you mentioned. Lloyd covers architectural design which comes from the heart and the soul and has instant appeal, something you will never find in a manufactured/mass produced home, tiny or not-so-tiny.
You can usually pick up all 3 for a bargain price at his website http://www.shelterpub.com
After reading his books you will wonder why you ever liked the home that you bought. It will also restore your faith in human creativity ( and scorn for what passes as home architecture today).
Without even realizing it, Lloyd Kahn is probably the Daddy of tiny houses. It would do anyone well to read up on the history 🙂
Awesome book! Highly recommended.